BlackBerry unveils budget-minded Q5 qwerty smartphone

BlackBerry is once again on the offensive as the company unveiled a new smartphone at the annual BlackBerry Live conference in Orlando, Florida. The budget-minded Q5 handset is designed with emerging markets in mind and is expected to go on sale sometime this summer, although not in the US.

Details are scarce at this hour but we do know that the Q5 is a QWERTY smartphone that features a 3.1-inch display that runs BlackBerry 10, the third phone from the Canadian handset maker to run this new operating system. It will be available in black, white, red and pink when it launches. No word yet on how much the Q5 will sell for, however.

In related BlackBerry news, CEO Thorsten Heins revealed the BlackBerry Q10 will launch with US carriers starting early next month. Following the announcement, Verizon tweeted they will deliver the handset in June while Sprint said it would be available in late summer.

BlackBerry Z10 owners will receive update 10.1 later this month. That handset, the first to run the company’s new operating system, launched back in February. Despite the delay, however, Heins was upbeat about the outlook of BlackBerry moving forward.

He said that in one year, his team has brought the company to a profitable quarter and that the most successful launch year for BlackBerry is well underway. Heins noted it hasn’t been an easy journey but they have reached solid ground with the company.

Finally, Heins revealed there are now 120,000 apps available for handsets running BB10 software. It’s a far cry from other app stores but hey, you’ve got to start somewhere.